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;) | QUEENSLAND forwarded NEW SOUTH WALES to TASMANIA, twice inter-colonial rate postal history 1880 cover with QUEENSLAND QV 2d pale blue pmk'd "59" with supporting TOWNSVILLE NO 17 1880 despatch to Mrs. Mowbray Gray, c/o Henry Hicks, Punch Office, Sydney routed through Brisbane NO 25, on arrival re-addresssed to the Rev. Claude Roberts, Woodrising, Latrobe, Tasmania with pair NEW SOUTH WALES QV 1d orange to scarlet pmk'd Sydney NO 30 80, parts of flap removed clear of LATROBE DEC 6 80 arrival. A very rare combination. £525 |
;) | The GOVERNMENT OF ST. VINCENT Crowned Circle cover to DENMARK, St. Vincent postal history 1865 unique O.H.M.S. cover to Copenhagen, Denmark with spectacular GOVERNMENT OF ST. VINCENT embossed flap showing two strikes of the red ink PAID AT ST. VINCENT crowned circle (latest use) with SAINT-VINCENT A/JU 06 66 despatch cds alongside, reverse 30 6 arrival. A wonderful exhibition item. £6000 |
;) | Wreck of S.S. "WINDSOR CASTLE" OC 19 1876 (Donald Currie Line), CAPE OF GOOD HOPE postal history 1876 clean cover to the Reverend W. Holford, Grahamstown with GB QV 6d grey Plate 15 pmk'd London "85" duplex dated 5/SP 16 76 with CAPE TOWN P/OC 20 76 arrival alongside, reverse with GRAHAMS TOWN OC 25 76 clear of missing flap. The "Windsor Castle" sailed from Dartmouth on 23rd September 1876 and hit rocks between 2 and 3am on 19th October off Dassen Island while approaching Cape Town. A Lt. Melville and a Mr Searle, after a most unpleasant journey, reached Cape Town at about 9pm with the news of the wrecked mail steamer. The "Florence" was despatched to the scene of the wreck, but due strong winds was unable to get out of the harbour until 4.15am, sighted the masts of the Windsor at 7am, and cast anchor at Dassen Island at 8am where the 160 passengers had assembled taking up a Robinson Crusoe kind of existence in tents rigged up from sails amongst heaps of saved baggage, boxes, gun cases and 70 to 80 mailbags. The "Florence" left at 1pm with the first of the survivors arriving at Cape Town at 6pm. Seven or eight feet of rock had ripped through the bottom and the ship broke up in heavy swells within a week. The rescued mail was postmarked at Cape Town on 20th October 1876. £1200 |
;) ;) | PAID-ONLY TO ENGLAND, Malta postal history 1872 cover front to New York City, USA with QV 6d Plate 11 pmk'd A/MALTA/JU 13 72 "A25" duplex with superb 2-line "PAID-ONLY/TO ENGLAND" showing the "5(d)" shortfall for 11d rate in black, red London Paid JU 24 72 transit. £725 |
;) ;) ;) ;) | LATE FEE COLLECTED BY INSUFFICIENT POSTAGE/FINE FROM RECIPIENT, New Zealand postal history Extraordinary 1865 cover endorsed "p. Claud Hamilton" and franked Chalon QV 2d pale blue placed in the Post Office late mail box with red manuscript instruction "Late Letter" (without accompanying cash) pmk'd Picton "11" without despatch datestamp (contrary to regulations) addressed H.D. Jackson in Nelson, the 6d late fee charge attended to by addition of INSUFFICIENTLY PAID 6/FINE 6 handstamp with black 1/- to be collected from the recipient, part of the address redacted, reverse NELSON MR 4 1865 arrival. The enclosure, written "In great haste" is on printed Union Bank of Australia paper and headed "Pictou 3 Mch/65" and mentions "enclosing 7/6 in postage stamps". £925 |
;) ;) | Combination BAHAMAS and CUBA to Sweden postal history 1936 printed Swedish America Line (top left) cover to Gothenborg, Sweden with delightful combination Bahamas KGV ½d, two pairs plus single KGV 1½d and Cuba 3c, 10c tied four strikes PAQUEBOT (41 x 6mm) handstamp, reverse Havana ABR 2 1936 cigars machine slogan. Sender address on flap from Pier 97, New York, some frontal stains. £225 |
;) | A67 used PORT ROYAL, Jamaica postal history 1883 commercial reg. cover (opened top and right side) with SUNBEAM crested crown printed flap to Fraser, Manager of The La Guayra and Caracas Railway, Caracas, Venezuela with horiz. strip pf six QV 2d deep rose CC wmk (SG.97) neatly pmk'd "A67" obliterators with PORT-ROYAL A/NO 12 83 backstamp, alongside address panel both Jamaica and St. Thomas registration handstamps and French Messageries Maritime line paquebot d/ring. The Venezuelan capital, Caracas, is situated seven miles from the Caribbean sea, but lies at an altitude of 3,000 feet. Surveys for a rail line from La Guaira began in 1867 and British and U.S. engineers disputed the route and financing for 14 years. An English group finally secured a contract in 1881, registered La Guaira and Caracas Railway Company in London, and began construction of a 23 mile line that involved neither cables, switchbacks nor rack, It ordered eight locomotives from Nasmyth, Wilson & Co. in Manchester and an assortment of passenger and freight cars, The line began carrying passengers in July 1883. £1650 |
;) ;) ;) | THE UNIQUE and SG UNLISTED SURCHARGE DOUBLE with SHORT “F”, St. Vincent stamps: 1894 “FIVE PENCE” on QV 6d lake (SG.60c + d combination), a used example part dated Kingstown – 13 95 showing the three distinctive coloured marks on Queen’s neck (aptly named the Southern Cross plate flaw by Peter Jaffe) as always found in conjunction with the short “F” overprint variety on Row 5/1 of the complete sheet, corner perf. fault and with BPA Certificate. Ex CHARLTON-HENRY. The SURCHARGE DOUBLE error is SG catalogued £6,000 mint and £3,000 used for any of the few known survivors, the SURCHARGE DOUBLE with short “F” is not known mint and this is probably the only surviving example. £1800 |
;) ;) | "BAR" (BARROUALLIE) and "K" (KINGSTOWN) combination, ST. VINCENT postal history 1876 cover front to James Crook, Sailor on Board the Satellite, Kings Town, St. Vincent with QV 1d black cancelled by black ink smudge showing a unique combination light strikes red ink "BAR" and "K" each dated JU 22 76 and additionally marked "Unclaimed" in pencil. Internally addressed mail from this period extremely rare. The additional scan, from my records, show this cover front to have had certificate number 60,509 (subsequently detached) and previous auction estimate of £1200 with £1800 realisation. £850 |
;) ;) ;) ;) | BRITISH HONDURAS and UNITED STATES combination postal history (Ex Ralph HART) c1868 exceptional and exquisite combination piece with vertical strip of four plus horizontal pair British Honduras 1865 QV 1d pale blue No wmk P.14 (SG.1, Cat.£65) tied "A06", and pair 1861-62 U.S. 3c rose Washington tied partial cds and pmk'd segmented cork cancels at New Orleans where framed "STEAMSHIP" also applied. The U.S. 6c, by adhesives, show the double rate and the manuscript crayon "due 14" completes the 20c rate, the double rate franking with BRH adhesives should have totalled 8d. Some adhesive faults but a unique franking (Ex Ralph HART 1978, Lot 264 as pencilled). Letters from British Honduras 1866 to 1869 could prepay the U.S. internal postage and supplies of the U.S. 3c rose Postal Stationery Envelope were evidently available in Belize for partial pre-payment as witnessed by covers (as per scans) of JA 12 1868 to Natchez, Mississippi (ex Edward S. Knapp, Maurice Burrus), and FE 27 1868 to Shreveport, Louisiana (Ex Ralph Hart). As the normal U.S. internal rate was 10c single rate, it is not understood why partial franking of 3c were the chosen partial prepayments, but this may have been the fee payable to the private contract steamboat carrier that made the trip between New Orleans and Belize City once a month starting in May 1867. £1725 |
;) | The "GALLE PENNY" Surcharge on NEW SOUTH WALES mail routed through Melbourne, VICTORIA 1874 cover marked "via Galle" to Dublin, Ireland with QV 1d, 6d pmk'd Sydney MY 16 74 duplex, no backstamps, part flap missing. Ex Trevor DAVIS (2002), "Emerald" (2003), CHARTELL (2018). When the new contracts came into force in 1874 New South Wales refused to contribute to the P & O service because Melbourne, Victoria was made the mail terminus, and because NSW favoured the route via San Francisco. To use the route via Melbourne and Pt de Galle NSW had to pay a fee to Victoria based on the amount of letters sent by that route. In order to defray that expense, and also to discourage NSW writers from using the route, a 1d surcharge was added to the basic rate (6d via Southampton, and 9d via Brindisi) from 10 FEB 1874 to 27 MAY 1875. This surcharge is commonly called the "Galle Penny". £300 |
;) | ST. LUCIA "REVENUE" issues archive piece 1884 QV 1d slate REVENUE in red handstamped "CANCELLED (Type D7) and 1885 QV 1d dull mauve REVENUE in black handstamped "SPECIMEN" (Type D11) in blue, both affixed to De La Rue to archive piece marked "Req 4-32". Ex CONRAD LATTO. £525 |
;) | ST. LUCIA stamps: Essay in black with typographed head and surround but without outer name and duty plate frame-lines, the top tablet "ST. LUCIA" and bottom tablet "HALFPENNY" hand-painted, cut down to stamp size and affixed to small piece. Ex De La Rue Archives (1979). £750 |
;) ;) | The 2½d on 1d lake INTER-ISLAND RATE from CALLIAQUA, St. Vincent to BARBADOS postal history 1884 cover to H.A. King, Bridgetown, Barbados with QV 2½d on 1d lake positional copy showing curved arc below "N" of "ONE" (SG.40) left to be cancelled at Kingstown by vertical black "A10" (PML.7) with red Kingstown C/NO 28 84 and CALLIAQUA C/NO 28 84 origin cds alongside, b/stamped BARBADOES NO 29 1884 broken dbl-arc. This QV 2½d on 1d lake was issued specifically for pre-payment of the under 300 miles inter-island rate. £1425 |
;) ;) | "Revenue" overprint omitted, Reversed CA watermark, St. Vincent stamps: 1883 THREE PENCE on QV 1d lilac REVERSED CA wmk with "Revenue" overprint omitted (PML.10), fresh very lightly mounted mint. PML records this error on Page 147 of the handbook. The later 1897 issues of THREE PENCE on QV 1d mauve and red-mauve (SG.63, 63a) have never been recorded with REVERSED CA wmk. £1200 |
;) | GREAT BRITAIN (Elgin, Scotland) to VICTORIA, Australia postal history (Ex von Uexkull) 1872 cover with sender's "North Street Elgin" albino embossed flap to The Reverend William Ross, c/o Solicitors, Queen Street, Melbourne with two GB QV 3d rose Plate 7 pmk'd ELGIN "133" duplex dated E/AP 8 72, on arrival re-directed with VICTORIA QV 2d brown-lilac tied MELBOURNE 8H/MY 31 72 duplex to Mrs. Ross's Lodgings, Campbell Street, Castlemaine, b/stamped London AP 9 72, Melbourne A/MY 31 72 and Castlemaine MY 31 72. Ex Jakob von UEXKULL (1997). Few covers from Great Britain forwarded with VICTORIA QV adhesives locally or to other Australian States exist, and I can only currently record GB 1/- (DE 5 1855) forwarded Melbourne to Castlemaine with 2 x 3d; GB stampless (JA 21 1856) forwarded Melbourne to Tarrengower with 1d, 3d, 1/- REGISTERED stamp; GB 1d x 3d, 6d (AP 10 1860) forwarded to Encounter Bay, S. Australia with 6d; GB 1d, 9d (MR 19 1872) Dublin to Melbourne forwarded Minnebah Reefs, Tasmania with 3d. The only other Victoria QV 2d forwardings known to me are on cover USA 5c (DE 28 1880) Adelaide to Sydney, NSW with 2d (von Uexkull), and USA 6c rose pair (JA 19 1882) forwarded Brisbane to Sydney, NSW with 2d (Edward S. Knapp). £1200 |
;) | ST. VINCENT stamps: 1882 QV 5/- rose-red ovp'd "REVENUE" (PML.6), superb full gum with light hinge remains. £1200 |
;) ;) | Wreck of the S.S. "WALDENSIAN" en route to Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, NATAL postal history 1862 cover to Josh Smith, Risebro, Kirbymoorside, Yorkshire with QV Chalon 6d grey (SG.13) packet rate pmk'd in the first few days of October 1862, showing PAID/DEVONPORT/CAPE PACKET/28 NO 62 overstruck red London NO 29 62 and red crayon "4" credited to the UK (compared to 5d in the Cape Colony), reverse shows trace of a backstamp but detail lost with missing flap. The saved mail was taken by Union steamer "Athens" which left Cape Town on 21st October arriving Devonport 28th November 1862. The Rennie steamer "Waldensian" sailed from Durban bound Cape Town on 6th October 1862 but struck rock at Struy's Point Reef, near Cape Agulhas, at 11pm on Monday the 13th. Captain Joss, having sight of the land and knowing the area, sent the second officer with a boat to look for a landing place. After a beach was secured two boats took out the female passengers, followed by the carpenter, the boatswain, and the elderly men. A fire was lit on shore and by daylight, after several trips, all 100 souls, and the mailbags had been saved. The mailbags and most of the passengers were conveyed overland from Somerset West reaching Cape Town on Thursday, others rescued by the "Kadie" or "Albatross". The "Waldensian" broke in half about 11.30am on the 14th, and, with the cargo became the perfect wreck. Losses included costumes and instruments of the Christy Minstrels, and four years observations on the trigonometrical survey of the colony with passenger Captain Bailey. £1500 |
;) | CONSIGNEE ENTIRE landed GRAVESEND SHIP LETTER, St. Vincent postal history 1910 cover marked "Consignee" and "p. S.S. St. Croix" to William Burr, Broad Street House, London with 1d re-drawn Arms (SG.99) tied purple str. line "THE EAST-ASIATIC COMPANY" handstamp with both GRAVESEND/SHIP-LETTER and GRAVESEND 2 AM/MY 18 10 arrival cds alongside address panel, reverse London E.C. 10.15AM MAY 18 10 arrival. The East Asiatic Company was founded in 1897 in Copenhagen by Hans Niel Andersen, initially to operate shipping services between Copenhagen, Bangkok and the Far East. In 1907 the "St. Croix" was sold to the Hamburg America Line. £750 |
;) ;) ;) | Wreck of S.S. "Emeu" to Woodford, Kensington, missent Hackney, NEW SOUTH WALES postal history 1857 entire with large part content to a Mrs. Cowell, Belgrave Villa, Woodford, near London with QV 6d slate tied barred oval cancel with fine SYNEY D/SEP 10 1857 displaying upper flap and red LONDON NL/DE 7 57 on address panel, on arrival re-directed Kensington and showing manuscript "Missent to Hackney", some smaller faults. Sent on the S.S. "Emeu" (under charter of the Australian Royal Mail Co.) which left Sydney on September 11 bound for Suez, but stranded on October 22nd in the Red Sea, on the Guttal el Bunna, a coral reef 120 miles from Jeddah. She was refloated the following day and beached for repairs near Duber Dubb finally reaching Suez on the 3rd November, the mails however having been transferred to the P.&.O S.S. "Madras" which reached Suez on the 19th November (16 days after the "Emeu"!). Paid for delivery in Southampton the cover was sent from Alexandria on the P.&.O "Ripon" arriving December 7th. £625 |